Eighteen servicemen were killed as a result of a Taliban militant car bombing in the Afghan province of Helmand in the south of the country, TOLO News reported, citing a source in law enforcement agencies.
It is reported that the explosion occurred on Sunday evening in the Nahre Seraj district. A car bomb exploded near the checkpoint of the Afghan National Army and the National Security Directorate. According to the source, the checkpoint was completely destroyed.
At the same time, a spokesman for the governor of the province, Omar Zwak, said that five soldiers were killed and five others were injured.
The radical Taliban claimed responsibility for the explosion.
In Afghanistan, there is a confrontation between government forces and militants of the radical Taliban movement, which had previously captured a significant territory in rural areas of the country and launched an attack on large cities. Also, the influence of the Islamic State terrorist group* has intensified in the country. Afghan National Defense and Security Forces conduct joint counter-terrorism operations across the country.
* -Terrorist organization banned in Russia.